Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media report them inadequately. We blog here because our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, New York, Madrid, London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening and why. This ongoing war is killing us.

Monday, November 05, 2012

5-Nov-12: Wall St Journal "Rockets keep coming from Gaza, not that the world notices"

Damage caused in a Gazan Palestinian Arab rocket attack on southern Israel's Hof Ashkelon region, June 20, 2012 [Image Source]. The explosive device was a Qassam rocket. The EU-funded GANSO office routinely, with a straight face, calls Qassams "Home Made Rockets" in its published reports. You - the reader from far away - are supposed to think that these are soft, nutritious objects that can barely hurt a fly. You are being subjected to cognitive warfare.

As the U.S. Presidential campaign races to the finish, the Middle East continues to boil. Not that the world seems to notice. Last week, Palestinian terrorists operating from the Gaza Strip fired 21 rockets and mortars into Israel. That followed a three-day, 77-shell barrage, in which two civilians were seriously injured and thousands of people were forced into bomb shelters. More than 800 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel from the Strip in 2012.

If this incoming fire were landing in Texas from Mexico—or in southern Spain from North Africa—it would be a major story. Instead, the world has largely ignored the attacks while obsessing over a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Iran is a principal arms supplier to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which operates out of Gaza and is responsible for many of the recent attacks. Iran's war against Israel, in other words, has long been underway.

Gaza has been governed for over five years by Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has done little to restrain the fire. In July, former Hamas leader Khaled Meshal met Egypt's new President in Cairo. "We have entered a new era in Palestine's relationship with Egypt," Meshal said after the meeting. "We were happy with what we heard from President Mohamed Morsi and his vision to handle all these issues."

Israel has been fortunate to suffer few fatalities so far from the Gaza attacks. Some of that owes to Israel's deployment of the Iron Dome air defense system, which recently intercepted eight rockets aimed at larger Israeli cities. But no defensive system is perfect and at some point a Palestinian barrage may take a large toll in lives, forcing Israel to respond in a major way.

When that happens, Israel will be urged to show "restraint" by the usual diplomatic suspects. We're writing this as a reminder of how much restraint Israel has already shown.

A version of this article appeared today, November 5, 2012, on page A16 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal.

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THIS ONGOING WAR is not part of the activity of the Malki Foundation which was founded by us, Frimet and Arnold Roth of Jerusalem. But it is inspired by the same tragic circumstances. Keren Malki is a memorial to the life of our daughter, Malki (that's her in the photo below this paragraph), who was murdered at the age of 15 in a massacre in the centre of Jerusalem carried out by Hamas. Beyond its function as a remembrance of a beautiful life, Keren Malki daily provides tangible, concrete, invaluable support to several thousand Israeli families of every part of the religious and socio-economic spectrum, including Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze and others, who care at home for a seriously disabled child. Email us at thisongoingwar@gmail.com

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This Ongoing War: About this blog

Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media often report them inadequately. Our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, in New York, in Madrid, in London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening. This ongoing war is killing us.